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February 20th Major News Events

  1. 1933 Repeal of the 18th Amendment
  2. 1938 Anthony Eden Resigns
  3. 1942 Lieutenant Edward H. "Butch" O’Hare
  4. 1965 Oil and Gas in North Sea
  5. 1986 Biggest space station, Mir.
  6. 1986 On this day, it was announced that a tunnel channel would be built by France and Britain
  7. 2007 Guantanamo detainees are not allowed to challenge their detention in U.S. courts
  8. 2012 China Loosens Restrictions on Foreign Films

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1931 San Francisco Bay Bridge

President Hoover signed a bill that authorizes the state of California to build the San Francisco Bay bridge across San Francisco Bay.

1962 Friendship 7

1962 : The Friendship 7 piloted by Marine Lieutenant John Glenn, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This was the first complete orbit around the earth made by an American astronaut.

1933 Repeal of the 18th Amendment

A majority of the house had voted for the repeal of the 18th Amendment, which had prohibited the sale and distribution of all alcohol. This occurred after the entire U.S. nation had been dry since the beginning of the 1920s.

The next step after this was to send this 18th Amendment repeal to each of the states of the U.S. for ratification or rejection of the plan to reverse the original decision made as of the passing of this Amendment.

1965 Ranger 8

The Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed on the moon after sending back thousands of pictures of the lunar surface

1937

As of this day, it was announced that a 14-year-old Farm Boy (Eugene Simpson) was convicted of slaying a motorcycle cop. This incident took place in October of 1935, and the final verdict of this case was reached the evening before this incident was printed in a local newspaper.

This murder had taken place at Northport in Alabama, and was carried out with a single .22 rifle. This boy would have been sentenced to a Boys’ Industrial school (school for juvenile delinquents).

However, the school was very crowded. Therefore, Simpson had stayed living with his dad. He could have been called to the school and be committed there at any time, however.

1938 Anthony Eden Resigns

Anthony Eden resigns as British foreign secretary because he did not believe Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain should open negotiations with Italy and he also opposed the Munich Agreement and abstained in the vote on it in the House of Commons.

1942 Lieutenant Edward H. "Butch" O’Hare

1942 : Lt. Edward O’Hare downed five Japanese bombers that were attacking the carrier Lexington, in April he was presented the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Roosevelt. He was shot down and killed on November 26th 1943 while leading the a night time fighter attack on a Japanese aircraft carrier. In 1949 the Chicago, Illinois Orchard Depot Airport was renamed O'Hare International Airport in his honor.

1947 Lord Louis Mountbatten

Lord Louis Mountbatten is appointed viceroy of India to oversee the granting of independence to the Partitioned India and Pakistan following the Partition and Independence. He then served for 12 months as the first Governor General.

Born This Day In History February 20th

Celebrating Birthdays Today

Kurt Cobain

Born: Kurt Donald Cobain. 20th February 1967 Aberdeen, Washington, U.S.

Died: April 5th 1994 Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Known For : Kurt Cobain is best remembered as the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Nirvana. Like many rock stars before and after Kurt Cobain suffered from drug addiction and depression which eventualy led to his committing suicide in 1994 from a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.

Sidney Poitier

Born: 20th February 1927, Miami, Florida, U.S.

Died: January 6, 2022, Los Angeles, CA

Known For : Sidney Poitier is best known as a black American actor who became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, His movies are classics because of his performances, his best known movies include Blackboard Jungle, The Defiant Ones, Lilies of the Field, To Sir, with Love, In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom . Over the last twenty years he has directed a number of movies including Stir Crazy and Uptown Saturday Night.

1949 Ricky Nelson

Ricky Nelson joins his parents' radio show. The show continued to be a success and Ricky Nelson went on to achieve solo success as a teen heartthrob in the 1950s.

1950 Dairy Exhibit

An announcement from a local newspaper on the day before indicated that a dairy exhibit would be displayed today in Ada, Oklahoma. This particular exhibit was sponsored by the Extension Division of the Oklahoma A. and M. College.

The plan was to show phases of dairy production using miniature equipment diagrams and pictures. Charts would also used in this educational exhibit as well.

All of the above-mentioned tools would be used to inform people about profitable dairy methods. Furthermore, each individual watching would learn in detail about each specific phase of dairy production-selection, feeding, breeding, management, housing, health of heard, product testing, and diary marketing.

1951 Mentally Incompetent

Two defense attorneys filed a motion with the U.S. District Court, pleading on behalf of their client William E. Cook, who had slain six people. These attorneys petitioned for his innocence on the account that he was mentally incompetent.

The motion was granted, and Cook was scheduled to be examined by a psychiatrist. The attorneys had adequate proof that Cook was incompetent on the basis that he did not understand the charges against him, even if he had admitted to the action (knew he did it but didn't understand what he did, was the ruling).

1965 Oil and Gas in North Sea

1965 : With the ever increasing need for oil and gas around the world and the jump in crude oil prices Britain is prospecting for Oil and Gas in the icy waters of the North Sea off Britain East Coast. The economy unlike any other is beset with problems including the falling value of the pound, the strangle hold Trade Unions have over both business and Government with shorter working weeks combined with higher wages companies in Britain are no longer competitive with the rest of the world . The country still has great engineers as can be seen by the joint British / French project of building the worlds first supersonic passenger plane ( The Concord ), so maybe all that is needed is the boost finding large deposits of oil and natural gas in the north sea to make Britain Great again.

1968 US Policy In Vietnam

Following the Tet Offensive, in which Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops, The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee begins hearings to investigate American policy in Vietnam.

1985

Ireland Contraception

Ireland a predominantly Catholic country after much debate allows contraceptives to be sold.

1986 Biggest space station, Mir.

The Soviet Union launches the world's biggest space station, Mir. It is intended to provide a base for a permanently manned space complex orbiting the Earth.

1986 Channel Tunnel

On this day, it was announced that a tunnel channel would be built by France and Britain. This underground travel path was commonly referred to as the "Chunnel" which combines the words tunnel and channel.

This was a project that had originally been planned back in the early 1800s. Napoleon was the ones who had drawn up the original blueprints for this project. Finally, in 1994 this project was complete.

Since 1994, the Channel Tunnel has been used for the passing of trains, cars, and buses, which cross under the English Channel in less than a half hour.

From 1980s Ladies Fashions Page

  • 1983 Side Button Dress

    From 1983 Side Button Dress

    Price: $24.00

    Description : Intriguing side-buttons let you be as daring as you wish! Dress has an elasticized peplum-waist and a vinyl-patent belt. Polyester knit in stand-out magenta with black print.



  • 1984 Colorblock Dress

    From 1984 Colorblock Dress

    Price: $28.00

    Description : Bold geometrics brighten the festivities in an easy chemise with color-blocked front. Off-white, purple and black on camel. Keyhole back with button closure. Long sleeves.



1993 James Bulger

1993 : Two 10 year old boys have been charged with the abduction and murder of two-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool. The toddler went missing from the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle last Friday and his body was found on a railway embankment on 14 February.

1998 Tara Lipinski

American Tara Lipinski 15 becomes the youngest gold medalist in Winter Olympics history when she won the ladies' figure skating title at Nagano, Japan

2003 Fire At Nightclub Kills 100

A fire at a rock concert in a Rhode Island, nightclub kills 100 people and seriously injures almost 200 more . The cause was traced to a pyrotechnics display which which set fire to the soundproofing foam on the ceiling

2007 Guantanamo detainees are not allowed to challenge their detention in U.S. courts

An American appeals court has upheld an anti-terrorism provision that states that the Guantanamo Bay inmates will not be able to challenge their detention in the U.S. courts. The provision is a key element in a law for prosecuting the terror suspects that President Bush passed through Congress in 2006. The appeal court has said that civilian courts cannot determine whether detainees are being held illegally. The ruling is likely to go to the Supreme Court, which had thrown out the government's original plans for trying detainees before military commissions. The Court of Appeals upheld an act of the 109th Congress to remove the right of Guantanamo Bay detainees to challenge their detention in lower federal courts. The Military Commissions Act suspends the right to habeas corpus and bars anyone deemed an 'enemy combatant' access to the federal courts.

2010 Alexander Haig dies

Alexander Haig has died aged 85. He has served three U.S. presidents, and had presidential ambitions of his own. He had been President Reagan's Secretary of State, Chief of Staff in the Nixon White House during the Watergate scandal and served briefly under Gerald Ford. A decorated hero in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, he rose to the rank of general before continuing the fight via the conservative politics of the Republican party of the 1970s and 1980s. He died in Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore.

2010 Madeira Mud Slides Leave 42 dead

2010 : The small Island of Madeira suffers severe rainfalls causing a massive mudslide which buried major parts of the city of Funchal leaving more than 40 dead and many more injured.

2011 Peru Cracks Down on Illegal Gold Miners

2011 :  Peruvian forces were sent to destroy illegal gold miners’ river dredgers in the country’s Madre de Dios Amazon region. The illegal miners had been causing deep environmental damage to the Amazon region through the use of mercury and other harmful substances in the mining. The raid was the first step for the Peruvian government as it tried to tackle illegal mining operations throughout the country.  


 

2012 China Loosens Restrictions on Foreign Films

China has eased up on rules that restrict the number of foreign films that can be shown in the country. The main quota of 20 films per year remains unchanged but the new rules allow another 14 films that are either IMAX or 3D to be shown as well. Most of the imported films come from the United States.

2013 Airports Strike in Malawi

The country of Malawi was forced to shut all of its airports as civil service workers went on strike over wages. Both domestic and international flights had to be cancelled.

2014 Nuclear Leak at Fukushima

2014 : Tons of contaminated and radioactive water leaked from a storage container at Japan's earthquake damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. Officials say that a valve was mistakenly left open causing the leak, they also stated that it was unlikely that the contaminated water went into the ocean.

1980s Toys Section

  • The A-Team Pedal Car From The 1980s The A-Team Van
    Price: $69.99


    Cruise with the bower of direct drive pedal action on the A-Team Van. 4x4 styling with high gloss finish and a full-color photo of the A-Team on the hood. Has plastic body with independent front suspension, steel steering rods, and rear "roll" bar.


  • Barbie Dream Store Fashion Department From The 1980s Barbie Dream Store Fashion Department
    Manufacturer: Mattel


    Price: $19.99


    The Barbie Dream Store Fashion Department has three displays for dresses, jewelry, and accessories.


  • Barbie Star Traveler From The 1980s Barbie Star Traveler
    Manufacturer: Mattel


    Price: $39.99


    Barbie's Motor Home with a driver's cabin that features bucket seats and a "CB radio".